+++++++++++++Date: 8941542/M11

++++++++++++++Ref: Astartes/0548766/DS
++++++++++++++By: Scribas Senioris Luthoris Rex
++++++++++++++Re: Histories of the Adeptus Astartes Vol.115,
Chapter 357, Subsection 95/W
++++++++++Thought: Purity is not your best defense, it is your only defense

After the Emperor had found his long lost sons, he set about reuniting the many kingdoms of Men.
The Emperors Legions raced outward, bringing the true faith to those ho would listen and death to
those who would not. Mighty wars raged; for there were many in those days who doubted the
Emperors word and turned their faces from his light. Some were honorable men, merely misguided.
Some were tyrants and traitors greedy to retain their powers. And some listened to the whispered
promises of Daemons and raised their warbanners against all humanity. The Space Marines fought
an endless succession of foes and were undismayed, for they were might and their leaders were
invincible.

The war was fought not only against renegade men but against Orks and Eldar and other beings too
terrible to be named. It was a time when a man could win glory and respect in the sight of the
Emperor. It was a time of darkness, of terrible massacres and noble deeds. But it was a time of hope;
for the living Emperor walked among men, and he brought the promise of a stable and peaceful
empire and freedom from the tyranny of the dark powers and their servants.

In this savage and noble age, the Primarchs walked the worlds like mortal gods. In those days, before
the Fall, Horus was the Emperors favored son and the Lord of Humanity had every reason to be
proud of him. He led the forces of Mankind to victory after victory. Noble he was and proud,
respected and trusted by all. For he was the bravest of the brave and the mightiest of the mighty. His
words were well-spoken and his opinions always reasoned and fair. His promises were always kept
and his threats always enacted. He had never been beaten in battle.

Horus was always first among the Primarchs but their were others of near equal renown: Jhagatai
Khan of the White scars, cunning master of the lightning raid; eagle-winged Sanguinius, of the keen
eye and pure heart; Leman Russ of the Space Wolves, impetuous, fierce, and bold; and, of course,
there was the taciturn Lion El Jonson, whose silence concealed a deep wisdom. The Primarchs were
a band of brothers, and as with all brothers there was a certain rivalry, as they vied for glory and the
attention of the Emperor. And as with many brothers there were bonds of kinship but there was also
animosity. Sometimes feuds sprang up. The most famous and enduring of these was the one
between Russ and Jonson.

It is said that the tow men disliked each other on sight, when they first met in the great marble
chamber in the Emperors Hall on Terra. Russ thought Jonson too aloof and disdainful. Jonson
believed Russ to be boastful and coarse. It was said that the two barely exchanged a word in the
whole time they were on Terra, but then Jonson rarely spoke and only Russ took this personally.

If Jonson was quiet, he was also brave and a mighty leader of men. During the Great Crusade only he
and Horus achieved a greater tally of victories than Russ. Russ, ever concerned with his honor and
good name, and ever keen to tell the noble saga of his deeds, found his exasperating. Matters came to
a head on the world of Dulan when the Dark Angels and the Space Wolves were set to assault the
Crimson Fortress of the tyrant Durath. Durath had personally insulted the Emperor and had ritually
sacrificed ten thousand believers to his patron Daemon in order to assure his victory. Both
primarchs were keen to claim his head.

Russ, ever headstrong, felt that he should lead the assault. Durath had claimed that Russ was the
Emperors puppy and that he would feed Russs heart to this pet Grox. The Lord of Fenris was
enraged and determined to wipe out this stain on his honor. He swore a mighty oath that he would
personally slay Durath and cut out his heart. So angry was he that he ordered Jonson to stand down
and let his forces attack the Crimson Fortress headlong. Jonson, who had spent days laying plans for
his assault, and who had personally scouted out all the enemys weak points, ignored this command
and began the assault. The Dark Angels stormed the mighty citadel and Jonson killed Durath in single
combat on the keeps walls. Russ, caught in the swirling melee at the foot of the battlements, could
only look on and howl with frustrated rage.

So great was his anger that when the battle was over and Jonson sat in triumph within Duraths Hall,
Russ walked up and struck the Dark Angels Primarch. Jonson rose to his feet and struck back. A
space was cleared in the great hall and the two Primarchs wrestled back and forth while their
assembled men watched and shouted encouragement. For a day and a night, they fought, each
perfectly matched in superhuman strength and speed. Russ was marginally stronger but Jonson was
slightly quicker, and so the two were evenly balanced.

Both had been schooled in hand-to-hand combat by the Emperor and by Warmaster Horus. Each
knew every trick and feint. The fight rolled on out of the Hall and across the battlements. After a full
day had passed they eyed each other warily over the shattered ruins of Duraths Fortress. Russ,
quick to rage but quick to mirth, saw the funny side of what had happened and began to laugh. As far
as he was concerned the right was over, both men had taken each others measure, and honor was
satisfied.

Jonson was not amused; he was slow to anger and slow to forgive and he saw Russs First blow as
treacherous. As Russ laughed, Jonson walked up and struck him unconscious. The prone form of
Russ was carried from the Fortress by his men while the Dark Angels looked on and jeered. Now
Jonson considered honor satisfied.

When Russ awoke the Dark Angels were gone, summoned by the Emperor to take part in the Alisore
campaign. Russ swore that he would have vengeance on Jonson for his low blow. Thus began a feud
that was to last for centuries. To this day, when Space Wolves meet with Dark Angels, one of their
number is called upon to reenact this ancient duel with one of jonsons sons, in order that the honor
of both Chapters may be satisfied.

* * *

Across the galaxy, war raged. The followers of Horus waxed strong and the balefire of rebellion
burned on a thousand worlds. After the initial treachery of the Space marines, millions of warriors
followed their example and fought under the sign of the Eye, the symbol of the Warmaster. Imperial
Guard armies and entire Titan Legions had fallen into error. Everywhere that Russs ships made
landfall there was signs of battle and rumors of conflict. Many times during the journey to Terra,
Russ was forced to intervene in battles between loyalist troops and heretics.

On Tallarn, huge armies of men and Titans were locked in battle. The entire factory city of Rogsburg,
a hundred miles across, was the scene of a vast slaughter. Russ paused to relieve the defenders of
Rogsburg. As the city crumbled he stood in the center of the Imperial lines and toppled an oncoming
Death Skull Warlord Titan into the dust, leaping from the window of a skyscraping tower onto the
machines huge armored shoulder and from there striking its death blow... Even a mighty Titan was
no match for Russ in his rage. Having relieved Tallarn, Russ raced onward, back to the heart of the
Imperium.

On the ice world of Thor V, he rescued ten brothers of the Adeptus Mechanicus from Snow Daemons
besieging their base. The brothers, the only survivors of their unit, agreed to join Russ in his quest.
Knowing they would not survive the journey unless they learned to fight as well as his men, Russ
gifted them with the gene-seed and assigned his warriors to teach them. The leader of the
Mechanicus, Brother Hrothgar, swore fealty to Russ and so became the first Iron Priest.
On Kalidus Jonson and Russ once more came to blows over who should lead the expedition. Jonson
wanted to continue directly on to Terra while Russ believed it necessary to destroy the orbital
fortress on Kalida Secundus, an armored moon that bombarded the loyalist forces on the planet
below. Tarus, a survivor who had fled the fortress, claimed the crew were possessed by Daemons.
For a day the Primarchs argued and finally came to blows. This time they drew blades and went for
each other. Russ gashed Jonsons cheek with his chainsword. Jonson tore Russs arm. Their fight
was stopped when Brother Hrothgar uncovered Tarus, showing him to be a mind-controlling
Daemon in the shape of a man. Once the Daemon had been expsed, the inexplicable rage fell away
from the Primarchs, and they decided the duel was a draw. But both now harbored biter
resentments against the other. A joint attack was launched against the Secundus fortress. In the
airless corridors the Space Marines fought against the mutated horde. Russ himself placed the
explosive charges in the reactor and the Space Marines retreated, departing in their ships, leaving the
citadel of the Daemons to explode behind them. The inhabitants of the planet at first thought a
second sun had been born above them and cringed in terror, then, realizing that the bombardment
had stopped, they gave thanks to the Emperor.

In Lemora, the Chapters were assaulted by a fleet of pirates, reavers who had used the outreak of the
Heresy to pillage and loot, just as had happened before the Emperor established his peace. In the
battle that followed, many ships were lost before the pirates were overcome. After defeating the
corsair leader, Ghoran the Navigator, in single company, Russ spared the mans life, then forced him
to swear loyalty to the Emperor. Ghoran did so and afterwards he and his men fought bravely
against the heretics. Ghorans grandson was later to repay his forbears debt most honorably. On the
Shield Worlds Russ and Jonson defeated the Tyrant Mashashi and his army of ten million blood
drinking men. From him they learned of the great assault that was planned on Earth. Mashashi was
a sorcerer and a seer and even as he died, blood bubbling from his lips, his ribcage ruined by the
sweep of Russs axe, he sneered at his victorious foes and told them that all their efforts would be in
vain. The Emperor would die, slain by Warmaster Horus.

Looking into Mashashis great viewing crystal, the two Primarchs saw a terrible scene. In a place of
utter Chaos, the Emperor stood alone against the hideously changed Warmaster. Their brother
Sanguinius already lay dead at the great evil ones feet. Russ and Jonson were deeply disturbed by
Mashashis prophesy. Both realized that it might be a trap set by the Dark Powers but both feared
the worst, for the crystal of seeing was an ancient artifact of great power and was said to infallibly
reveal the hidden secrets of the universe. The two Primarchs debated the course they should take.
Within the crystal they saw the great fleets of the heretics voyaging towards Earth. They saw five
entire Chapters of corrupted Marines, depraved spawn of Chaos and even Daemons descend towards
the Imperiums heart. They decided that they must reach Earth, whatever the risk, and take part in
the battle even if it was their last. They decided to use the crystal to guide them on the last, long
warp voyage.

Gathering their men and ships the Primarchs lead them into the warp. It was the longest single
journey ever attempted at that time and it appeared doomed from the very start. Within the vast
seas of warp space they were assaulted by Daemons who tried to prevent them from reaching Terra.
Many brave Space Marines and proud ships were lost. Great storms, sent by the Chaos powers
themselves, swept them off course and drove them to the many shadowy corners of the universe
unseen by men before or since. Brave men went mad, or starved or died of hideous plagues, but still
the ships drove on, ploughing through that terrible, secret sea. In the end, with Russ himself at the
helm of the Winter Wolf, his navigator driven insane from the horrors he witnessed on the long
journey, the fleet arrived too late.

Time flows strangely in warp space, and thought it seemed to the ships crew that they had travelled
only for weeks, long and hard weeks though they may have been, in the true universe of matter many
months had passed. The Space Wolves and the Dark Angels arrived on Earth to find the ultimate
tragedy come to pass. The Ruins of Earth.
The Space Wolves and the Dark Angels dropped into the fighting around the ruins of the Emperors
Palace. Joining forces with the remnants of the White Scars and the Blood angels they swiftly drove
the forces of Chaos from the rubble. Howling his warcry, Russ battle his way into his fathers throne-
room, slaying every enemy that came within range of his bolter or within reach of his axe. By his side
were his wolves, guarding his back, howling warnings of hidden enemies and lamentations for fallen
brothers. Through the shadowy halls Russ battled and one by one his bodyguards fell away, slain by
their fearsome foes. Russ feared not. There were monsters in the most sacred hall in the Universe
and Russ vowed he would slay every one of them if need be.

Two-headed mutants fell to his blade. Great formless spawn erupted and these he flamed. Daemons
stalked the halls, howling in terror, for the Emperor had slain Horus and in turn had taken a mortal
wound. Russ showed no foe mercy. Hatred was in the heart and death was in his hand.

Russ came at last to the audience chamber. Fallen stone angels lay on the marble floor. The bodies of
dead men and monsters were strewn everywhere. Over everything lay an eerie quiet and even the
great wolves fell silent. Russ called aloud for the Emperor and his cry echoed, answerless, round the
great chamber. He stood alone, at the centre of the world, and wept. He knelt before the Emperors
empty throne and prayed for guidance. In the distance, brazen horns sounded their victorious note.
Word of the death of Horus and the arrival of Russ and Jonson had spread and the forces of Chaos
fled in full retreat. The dark will that had bound them was gone. For the first time Russ felt no joy in
victory and saw no glory in his deeds. In the empty hall, all seemed meaningless and dark, and
despair threatened to overtake him.

The air shimmered and Rogal Dorn, stern Primarch of the Imperial Fists appeared. In his arms he
carried the broken body of the Emperor. Behind him his men reverently carried the corpse of eagle-
winged Sanguinius. He would fly no more. Russ looked wearily at Dorn. Silently Dorn shook his
head. Both men knew that it was over. Horuss treachery had left the Imperium in ruins. The band
of brothers was sundered forever. The dream that they had fought for was dead. This was no
victory. Russ let out a great howl of grief and rage, and turned and stalked from the Hall.

Jonson found him under the Monument to the Victory at Durath. He too had taken the Emperors loss
most grievously. He too was maddened with pain and heartbreak and despair. In that darkest hour,
bitter words were spoken. Jonson accused Russ of losing Earth. If they had not paused at Kalida
Secundus they might have arrived in time. Jonson raged. Russ stared back mutely, and told the Dark
Angels Primarch to go away. He had no thirst for battle. He lay down to sleep under the fallen statue
to meaningless victory.

As he slept, he dreamed. As he dreamed, the Emperor came to him. Russ was filled with wonder.
The Emperor spoke, telling him that now was the time of testing. Now it was up to him and his true
brothers to hold the Imperium together lest all that they had accomplished vanish. He told them that
the matter between himself and Jonson must be settled finally and forever. When Russ woke, Jonson
stood over him, armored and armed for a duel. Russ rose to his feet. He saw the folly of what was
about to happen. The realm of Mankind was going to fall into anarchy, chaos and darkness, and those
who could prevent it were fighting among themselves. He looked at Jonson and shook his head.
Filled with rage Jonson insisted he fight. Russ simply exposed his chest, offering his heart to Jonsons
blade. Jonson struck, but at the last second the he perceived his madness. Ass the blade pierced
Russs primary heart, Jonson turned his stroke aside, deflecting the blade from bone, and missing the
second heart. The duel was settled. Honor was satisfied at last.

When Russ awoke he found Dorn and Jonson standing over his bed. Jonson bowed his head and
begged forgiveness. Russ gave it. Dorn told the Lord of Fenris of the Golden Throne by the Adeptus
Mechanicus, that would preserve some spark of the Emperors life until perhaps a cure could be
found. The three of them swore a great oath never to do battle against each other again. For the
universe had grown dark and Daemons were still at large and the true Space Marines were the last
bulwark of mankind against ultimate destruction. They strode forth to re-unite the shattered
Imperium under the Emperors banner. They drove the forces of Chaos back to the Eye of Terror.
They fought many battles, for there was a galaxy to conquer. They banded together with the
remaining loyal Primarchs and re-established order. Thus was the Imperium preserved and the Law
maintained in the Universe. But the Emperor was lost and the Golden Age was over forever.